If you care about your privacy while browsing the web, you certainly must have heard the name Brave. Yes, the same Brave browser that touts privacy-centric tools such as native ad-blocking, deeper cookie controls, and script-blocking, while also claiming to load at least 3x faster than the likes of Chrome. Well, the folks behind Brave have now committed to a privacy-focused search engine called Brave Search.
The company has acquired Tailcat, an open search engine that doesn’t collect information such as IP addresses or personally identifiable user data. The company is pitching the duo of Brave browser and Brave Search as the industry’s first privacy-preserving alternative to the Google Chrome and Google Search combo which rules the market by a huge margin right now.
| “Under the hood, nearly all of today’s search engines are either built by, or rely on, results from Big Tech companies. In contrast, the Tailcat search engine is built on top of a completely independent index, capable of delivering the quality people expect, but without compromising their privacy.” |
Brave is making some bold promises from the get-go, even before the eponymous search goes live publicly. To start things, Brave’s search engine won’t track users or create their profile, and is claimed to be a user-serving alternative rather than an ad and business-serving search engine.
Brave Search will offer a choice between paid ad-free search and a free ad-supported format
More importantly, Brave’s solution will let users choose between a paid ad-free search experience, and a free ad-supported format. Additionally, the company notes that Brave Search is independent and that it will rely on anonymous contributions from its community of users and supporters to improve in the foreseeable future.
And to ensure that issues such as algorithmic bias and censorship are handled properly, the Brave-branded search engine is going to experiment with transparent, open-ranking models curated by its community of users. While Brave’s eponymous search and web browser are being pitched as a best-in-class browser-search integration, the company will allow Brave Search to power other search engines as well.
Brave Search will be available on other browsers, and Brave browser will let you pick other search engines.
In case you’re wondering, Brave Browser will let you pick other search engines in the future despite offering an in-house option, and its search engine will also be available in other browsers as a search engine option. At this moment, it is unclear as to when Brave Search will make its way to end users. If you’re interested in keeping up with the latest developments and trying it out, you can sign up and join the waitlist here.
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